>> this was a devastating storm, maybe the worst that we have ever experienced. >> i am not worried at this point about the impact on the election. i'm worried about the impact on families. >> i'm confidence on the fact we will have complete support from the president of the united states. >> people of ohio have big hearts, so we're expecting you to follow through and help out. >> the president has been all over this and he deserves great credit. i have been on the phone with him yesterday personally three times. >> i want to thank all the first responders throughout this country. >> this looks like another time when we need to come together all across the country, even here in ohio. >> the election will take care of itself next week. right now our number one priority is to make sure that we are saving lives. ♪ we begin as the east coast confronts devastating flooding, power outages, and scattered

fires, all the consequences of a powerful storm of historic proportions. in sandy's wake at least 28 are dead in the u.s. dozens of homes lost to fire or swept to sea. mass transit stalled, and some 8 million without power. the president has been hunkered down at the white house declaring states of emergency, working with governors, and helping to coordinate relief efforts. just an hour ago he traveled to the headquarters of the red cross pledging for support for what's expected to be a lengthy recovery. >> my message to the federal government, no bureaucracy, no red tape, get resources where they're needed as fast as possible, as hard as possible, and for the duration because the recovery process obviously in a place like new jersey is going to take a significant amount of time. >> indeed. the president will travel to hard-hit new jersey tomorrow, and just a week from election

day the president's challenger was hardly content to sit on the sidelines. for his part, mitt romney tried to turn an ohio campaign rally into a relief rally. collecting donations for storm victims with a viewing of his campaign video before hand and a few remarks. >> a lot of people hurting this morning. they were hurting last night and the storm goes on. i have had the chance to speak with some of the governors in the affected areas and they've talked about a lot of people having a hard time. you can't always solve all the problems yourself, but you can make the difference in the life of one or two people as a result of one or two people taking an effort. >> romney declared he would send the boxes of rice krispies and canned goods in a truck to new jersey. asked if romney would be visiting the state himself, new jersey governor chris christie dismissed the idea with a large dose of disdain. >> is there any possibility that governor romney may go to new jersey to tour some of the

damage with you? >> i have no idea nor am i the least bit concerned or interested. i have got a job to do here in new jersey that's much bigger than presidential politics and i could care less about any of that stuff. >> it's no wonder really. romney's answer to disaster relief being to shut down fema and place the burden of recovery on the back of the states and the private sector. something that might be a bit off-putting to governor christie on a day like today. we'll have more on the storm and the election in this hour but let's get to richard lui who is in battery park where the waters of new york harbor bashed into vulnerable flood zones. richard, 24 hours since the storm surge began there. how do thiges longs look right ? >> reporter: 24 hours ago looked a lot like this, a lot of white caps, stormy movement of the water. of course, the water at that

point 24 hours ago was just starting to rise. since then in that 24 hours the city has been crippled. we're talking about $20 billion in infrastructure damage, $10 billion to $30 billion in lost business reeceipts. if those numbers are right by some estimates, that would be the worst disaster in u.s. history. we're also looking at a subway system, the best in the world some say, that currently is not working, not functional, and won't be for several days. it could be more than that. electricity south of 39th street gone for the most part. overnight and now today in some parts of where i'm standing right now, battery park on the southern tip of manhattan, they don't even have cell service, they don't have broadband service here and there. they've just taken down a tree that was felled not too long ago. that took about 45 minutes. up to my right there's a residential tower, just to give you a sense of how the financial

center of the united states is not necessarily at its best, crippled at the moment, that tower normally would be lit up with lights. they're not right now. martin, it is difficult going right now and we look at what is happening here in an area where they are used to making $70 billion in income a year. by that measure, we have lost half a billion dollars in the last two days. >> richard lui, thank you so much. let's bring in our panel now. with us from atlanta, mayor kasim reed, and in philadelphia, professor james peterson of lehigh university. gentlemen, i'd like both of you to respond to this statement today from the president who visited the red cross in washington. take a listen. >> the red cross know what is they're doing. they're in close contact with federal, state, and local officials. they will make sure that we get the resources to those families as swiftly as possible. >> mayor reed, so the red cross know what is it's doing. did you detect, perhaps, a

subtle dig on mr. romney who spent today going against the guidelines established by the red cross and holding a campaign rally in ohio that was dressed up like a charity drive collecting food and other supplies when the red cross expressly asked people not to do that? >> well, what i think the president was doing was being commander in chief, and he continues to distinguish himself as someone who is focused on the needs of everyday americans, and this is more important to him even than the presidency. that's why he's going to be traveling to the site personally. that's why he had multiple personal conversations with the governor of new jersey. i think that this is yet another moment where you see the clear, striking difference between a president who has a heart for the american people and someone who simply wants to be president of the united states.

>> indeed. professor peterson? >> i would agree. i mean, it's xration thcompassi shows through in times like these. it's humanity that shows through in times like these and it just seems clear that the president, in addition to stepping up and doing what he does as commander in chief, demonstrates compassion in these remarks and in his approach to this kind of serious disaster. all we've seen from romney and from his surrogates is all kinds of politicizing and misdirection and i think the american people in this sort of disastrous moment can really see in bold relief the differences between president obama and former governor romney. >> mayor reed, to professor peterson's point, you need compassion, yes, but you also need funding, and you need fema, and you need support. now, i wonder, sir, if you would just listen to mr. romney's discourse here on federal disaster management. take a listen, sir. >> fema is about to run out of money and there are some people who say do it on a case by case

basis and some people who say maybe we're learning a lesson here that the states should take on more of this role. >> absolutely. every time you have an occasion to take something from the federal government and send it back to the states, that's the right direction. and if you can go even further and send it back to the private sector, that's even better. >> mayor reed, everyone acknowledges the role and importance of the private sector. as mayor of a major city, you do. with all due respect to mr. romney, if the private sector was to great at disaster response, why aren't they doing it already? the whole point of having government is to take the role that the private sector does not wish to take. is that not right? >> you know, the clip shows the old mitt romney that we know and folks don't like very much. and, of course, he's now a new mitt romney, but the fact of the matter is government really is the collective of us, and in times like these you are reminded that you want a strong government that will take decisive action when lives are

at risk. unlike mitt romney and paul ryan, who said that they would bloc grant fema funding to states. states are having fiscal problems and that responsibility would fall to them. it's so unfortunate that we have people that take these ex prem p -- extreme positions just to score political points. when you're in harm's way you don't want a private company that's trying to save money. you want a government that will do what is required to save lives and that's not the policy that mitt romney or his twin paul ryan have advanced while they have been in office. they have done just the opposite unfortunately. >> mayor reed, i'm sorry to press you on this, but isn't that the point of the way these gentlemen have been speaking? this is their patently clear philosophy, and yet when it collides with reality on a day like this, it's not something that the people of america like

at all. the idea that we're going to make the responsibility for emergency relief not just in the hands of the states but preferably according to mr. romney in the hands of private businesses? really? >> well, i mean, unfortunately, martin, we shouldn't be shocked by this. i mean, i think this shows who mitt romney is. this is irrefutable. this came from his own mouth, and he really hadn't walked away from this. he hadn't said that we need a strong fema right now. he has continued to stand behind his positions, and while this is an awful time and our hearts, our prayers are with the folks on the east coast, we do have an election coming up, and we do need to remember what these folks' position are. >> that's right. >> and this is yet another space where mitt romney would privatize an essential government function. that's what he said he would do. >> that's right. >> indeed it is.

professor peterson, when you consider the fact that congressional republicans led, of course, by paul ryan, actually cut funds for disaster relief by 43% and that fema was nearly destroyed under the irresponsibility and neglect of george w. bush, could we be forgiven for concluding that republicans, can they be trusted on this issue? >> it doesn't seem like we can. sequestration will cut fema another 8%. remember, the republicans kind of led the charge with sequestrati sequestration. there are so many challenges for us to consider. we talk about october surprises. it's really unique to have a national natural disaster as an october surprise because i think it should open people's mites up to what the folk on the right have been talking about about gutting government and privatizing everything. you can't privatize disaster relief. we know about all the scams. you need the government to coordinate across the states. you can sakic it back to the states but we need coordination

across the states for this kind of relief effort and also, martin, finally here, in the absence of any kind of government intervention with respect to climate change, to go on the other end of that and then to also say we want to cut and demolish fema is absolutely absurd. we need both. we need to address climate change and we need to sort of make sure that fema is also a resource because if you're looking at tsunamis on the west coast or hurricanes on the east coast, we are going to need some government support in order to address these natural disasters. >> indeed. professor james peterson and mayor kasim reed, thank you both for your considered views. stay with us. much more ahead. >> thank you. >> we are going to do everything we can to get resources to you and make sure that any unmet need that is identified we are responding to it as quickly as possible and i told the mayors and the governors if they're getting no for an answer somewhere in the federal government, they can call me personally. [ female announcer ] you can make macaroni & cheese

without freshly-made pasta. you could also cut corners by making it without 100% real cheddar cheese. but then...it wouldn't be stouffer's mac & cheese. just one of over 70 satisfying recipes for one from stouffer's. five days later, i had a massive heart attack. bayer aspirin was the first thing the emts gave me. now, i'm on a bayer aspirin regimen. [ male announcer ] be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. [ woman ] learn from my story.

during the darkness of the storm, i think we also saw what's brightest in america. nurses at nyu hospital caring fragile newborns to safety. we've seen incredibly brave firefighters in queens wa waist-deep in water fighting infernos and rescuing people in boats. that kind of spirit of resilience and strength, but most importantly looking out for one another, that's why we always bounce back from these kinds of disasters. >> that was the president a short time ago speaking about the superstorm that has brought much of bustling new york city

and the greater northeast to a stand still. the president spoke from the american red cross headquarters pledging federal support to the hard-hit eastern seaboard. i'd like to welcome now new york congresswoman carolyn maloney who joins me here appropriately dressed because you've been out in the community as i know, but i also understand that you've been just involved in a conference call with regard to first responders and the response of the federal government. what can you tell us? >> well, janet napolitano, the head of homeland security was there. we have a coordinated response now since 9/11, and the head of fema, who is coordinating the response of all the federal agencies, craig fugate, they are sending federal aid. they are sending generators down tomorrow. all of our tunnels are flooded. it is the worst flooding that the nta has had in 100 years and the worst outage in the history of con edison. con ed does not have the power

to clean the tunnels out so the mta can see how it needs to be repaired. the federal government is coming in with generators, with emergency aid. i just got off the phone earlier today with ray lahood, the head of the transportation, and he's working with fema and with napolitano to get aid to the city of new york and the resources. they are coordinating responses with the red cross and others in terms of food, water, and seeing that people down on the lower east side where i was working today, it's the american spirit as the president said, people at their brightest. >> it's the american spirit, but it's also the american government. >> absolutely. >> and we've been hearing a great deal about reducing government, about government being our enemy, and yet on a day like today i imagine millions of people are relying upon our government. >> we're relying on them to help us get our infrastructure in order so we can return to helping people and moving

people. fema was an icon during 9/11 and they're an icon now. they are coordinating the federal response. it was slashed under the ryan budget 43%, and now it's been restored by president obama, and they are responding as they should to the northeast and to all states that have been inflicted. they have called it a national disaster zone. new york and new jersey are hit harder than other areas. they're allocating resources, responding, saving lives, and they are helping the first responders, the volunteers, really the city, state, and federal workers who are doing a heroic job in our great city responding to this worst storm in my lifetime for new york. >> you represent constituents here. >> yes. >> how are they reacting to what's happened? >> they were rising to the occasion. the lower east side and lower west side has absolutely no power. there are no traffic lights. people are helping people cross

the street. they were serving as the police directing traffic. they were helping each other. it reminded me of the spirit after 9/11 where everyone did whatever they could to help. but you need the city government, the state government, the federal government to come in and help. mr. romney says rely on the private sector. what if they decide not to fund it? the federal government is there funding disaster relief, disaster coordination. they are moving in supplies and equipment that is needed to help us restore our great city and to help the people. we had a terrible problem with one of our hospitals, new york hospital had a power outage. all of the hospitals opened their doors and said bring your people here. everyone is doing everything they can to save lives, to help, and to respond. i believe the mayor, all our first responders, all our city workers are doing a brilliant, brilliant selfless job in helping our great city get through this, and thank you, mr. president, for being there

directing fema. thank you fema, thank you to homeland security for coming in to help new york during this period. we couldn't do it without them. con ed doesn't have the power. we need the federal government. they say the generators will be here in 24 hours helping us restore our city back to an operational level. >> thank you also for what you are doing. >> thank you for having me today. >> thank you. congresswoman carolyn maloney, thank you so much. if you'd like to make a donation to help with the storm recovery efforts, please go to redcross.org or call 1-800-red-cross. stay with us, much more ahead. [ male announcer ] in blind taste tests, even ragu users chose prego. prego?! but i've bought ragu for years. [ thinking ] wonder what other questionable choices i've made? i choose date number 2! whooo! [ sigh of relief ] [ male announcer ] choose taste. choose prego.

we are warned this would be a storm of historic proportions, and as hurricane sandy moves west, it has left an unprecedented path of destruction. at least 28 people are confirmed dead. over 8 million are without power, and multiple communities

along the east coast are flooded. joining us now from one of the hardest hit areas, point pleasant beach, new jersey, a nbc's ron allen. ron, you bravely witnessed firsthand the power of this storm. what has been its impact from where you are? >> reporter: well, martin, all the sand doesn't belong here. this is what was a sand dune that was designed to protect this town, and now it is literally spread all over the front of the town. it goes for blocks in. last night the dune that was here that we were reporting from last night, it gave way and the ocean which you can see back there came rushing into the town. it also obliterated buildings like this. this is an oceanfront beach resort that had a bar and restaurant in the back. it was boarded up but that has been completely blown away. you can see how the sand just inundated this area. if you look down the street to my right, you will see it

extends way down the town across the entire ocean front. they've tried to remove the sand to get cars through. there's some energy vehicles that have made their way through. we've seen some utility vehicles in town trying to get a handle on things to restore the power and get things working here again. the town is evacuated for the most part. we've seen a few people coming back to their homes, but most people still don't know the extent of the damage because they're not here and the authorities are not letting them back in because it's not safe. a lot of work to do here, but, again, the devastation is just unprecedented, and the good news is that there are some police and firefighters here who are trying to make a little bit of progress, but this is going to be yeoman's work for a very long time to come, martin. >> ron allen, thank you, sir. and we'll continue to monitor this storm and its impact in the coming days. stay with us. the day's "top lines" are coming up. president obama: there's just no quit in america...

and you're seeing that right now. over five million new jobs. exports up forty one percent. home values... rising. our auto industry... back. and our heroes are coming home. we're not there yet, but we've made real progress and the... last thing we should do is turn back now. here's my plan for the next four years: making education and training a national priority; building on our manufacturing boom; boosting american-made energy; reducing the deficits responsibly by cutting where... we can, and asking the wealthy to pay a little more. and ending the war in afghanistan, so we can... do some nation-building here at home. that's the right path. so read my plan, compare it to governor romney's... and decide which is better for you. it's an honor to be your president... and i'm asking for your vote... so together, we can keep moving america forward. i'm barack obama and i approve this message.

wooohooo....hahaahahaha! oh...there you go. wooohooo....hahaahahaha! i'm gonna stand up to her! no you're not. i know. you know ronny folks who save hundreds of dollars switching to geico sure are happy. how happy are they jimmy? happier than a witch in a broom factory. get happy. get geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more.

from sappedy's landfall to sandy's wicked aftermath, here are today's "top lines," now the political storm. >> the good news is we will clean up and we will get through this. >> we have heavy hearts as you know with all the suffering going on in a major part of our country. >> primary life safety and then we'll start getting to the critical frsk. >> we're in the middle of hurricane sandy, and we have no studio audience. >> president obama said that americans should take warnings about hurricane sandy seriously. step one, give it a name other than sandy. your like i can't believe this. >> we felt like we would be putting the audience at jeopardy if they had to sit through the show, and i said, hell, we've been doing that for 30 years. >> calmly said, i have to go back right now, this storm is getting out of hand. i have to handle it, and i said, mr. president, that is the right call. >> he's doing the job a president should be doing.

>> the storm goes on, i have had the chance to speak with some of the governors in the affected areas. >> fema is about to run out of money and there are some people who say the states should take on more of this role. >> if you can go even further and send it back to the private sector, that's even better. >> the final jobs report before the election. >> would there be any incentive to not release it? >> thank you for the laugh amongst all the devastation. i mean it just comes top of mind. >> i'm not worried at this point about the impact on the election. >> the president has been outstanding in this. i spoke to him three times yesterday. i said if you could expedite the major disaster declaration. the president has been all over this and he deserves great credit. not once did he bring up the election. if he's not bringing it up, you can be sure people in new jersey are not worried about that. i don't give a damn about election day. i have much bigger fish to fry. >> the election will take care of itself next week. >> let's get right to our panel. joining us now in the studio is krystal bal ball and liliana gil

valletta. lily, if i can start with you. mitt romney seems to think it's okay to get back to campaigning so soon after what is a national disaster. what's your thoughts on that? can we talk about the election yet? >> you know, governor chris christie, who is a big supporter of mitt romney, gave us a great example. kind of living it in the middle of the action and he said i could care less about the election. people in new jersey don't care about it. i don't care about it. the president hasn't been really campaigning at this point. i just think it's insensitive to jump right into campaigning because the storm is still going on. you know, all eyes were on new york. we're here in new york. how it has passed but it hasn't really passed. so we've got to give it a prudent time and i don't think yet is the right >> you know, frankly, if you're mitt romney, you're behind. he's looking at the map and the

days left in the campaign and he's thinking i have to do something. >> really? >> i think they felt pressure to get back into campaign mode because they can't cede the week to the president dealing with the response and romney just being silent. i agree with you, i find it in poor taste, but i think they felt that pressure of we're behind. >> the romney campaign said the event where they saw people giving rice krispies and tins of food, and thas an honorable gift of people who are kind and wish to be compassionate, but the romney campaign says that that was a relief rally, not a campaign event. >> well, they say that, but, of course, it was in the same place as the original rally in battleground ohio -- >> a slight problem. >> with the same cast of characters. >> another problem. >> they got the political benefit of releasing the statement saying we're not going to do any campaign events but they said we're going to do this one rally in battleground ohio. >> what's tough about that though is while the president is not obviously and bluntly campaigning, of course, everything he says is very

presidential, so it always has a reminder and an undertone for those that are undecided that are watching him in action being president. so he does have an advantage over romney, so i agree with krystal, and one thing that he did say, mitt romney, that seemed very genuine was like, you know what? if we can do a little something, let's do something, and if it's gathering goods and sending them out to those in need, let's do it, but it was convenient that it was certainly in ohio. >> here is the problem though. mitt romney doing what he did today is actually against what experts recommend for disaster response. reporters tried to ask him about this, and he wouldn't answer, he wouldn't give any answers to questions about fema and so on and what he previously said in the primaries. what's your reaction to the fact that experts in this field actually say the right thing to do is to donate money, not to gather food stuff together because that can't be distributed.

it's just not the most helpful thing to do. >> clearly, i think his priority here was to have an appearance of an event -- >> a photo-op. >> that was not political. he wanted for people to feel like he was doing something good to further the hurricane relief effort, and i doubt that they really went and asked the experts exactly what the best thing to do would be. >> right. now, one of the issues with this storm is its effect on potential turnout. we have a new poll that shows 8% of latinos have already voted. furthermore, the poll finds that 87% of latinos say they're certain to vote by november the 6th. could that level of turnout do you think, lily, give the president a significant margin of victory in places like florida and nevada? >> absolutely. and we've already talked about electoral maps here, and what happens with latinos is because the market is so concentrated in three key states, in this case colorado, nevada, and florida, which are critical for deciding

who makes it to the white house, those are exactly the states where we are starting to see some early numbers. some of the, you know, obama campaign officials have said there's been up to, you know, 15% more early turnout by latinos since they opened in florida. so it's definitely a big, big number, and it's going to continue to rise. you know, colorado voters, you know registered voters that are latino are up by 15% which is a big number. it will make a big difference and we are more enthusiastic, the latest numbers are 45% of all hispanics that are registered say i am excited about this complain, more so than 2008. >> right. i wanted to ask you, crystal, about the effect of this storm in places like franklin county, ohio, because they actually had the heaviest turnout of the year in that heavily democratic area around columbus. over 4,400 people cast early l ballo ballots. can democrats, do you think, take heart from the early voting rush as it were?

>> i do think so because it's one thing to talk about your ground game. it's another thing to actually see votes being banked. and nevada is another place, and iowa is another place where i would say ohio, iowa, and nevada are three states where we've seen very strong early voting turnout for the president, and when you look at a state like virginia, my home state, the polls are basically tied if you take the average of polls. >> very close. >> ground game can make up about two points. if you are systematically identifying your voters and getting them to go and vote, that can make the difference when it is that tight. >> you really believe that, two points? >> i really do believe it. that's what the research shows, and i just spoke actually today with a gentleman who is running for the congressional seat i ran for, and he confirms that they were finding on the ground he's reaching out to a lot of sort of lean republican voters, it's a conservative district, and he's hearing from them that they're not getting a lot of contact from republicans on the ground there. it sounds like the president's campaign really does have that strong of a ground game.

>> fantastic. >> krystal ball and littliana g valletta, thanks for joining us. guess how long fox and friends waited to mention libya this morning? stay with us. if we want to improve our schools... ... what should we invest in? maybe new buildings? what about updated equipment? they can help, but recent research shows... ... nothing transforms schools like investing in advanced teacher education. let's build a strong foundation. let's invest in our teachers so they can inspire our students. let's solve this. ♪ [ male announcer ] it started long ago. the joy of giving something everything you've got.

it takes passion. and it's not letting up anytime soon. if you're eligible for medicare, you might know it only covers about 80% of your part b medical expenses. the rest is up to you. call now and find out about an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. like all standardized medicare supplement plans, they help pay some of the difference. and could save you in out-of-pocket medical costs. you'll be able to visit any doctor or hospital that accepts medicare patients. plus, there are no networks, and you never need a referral to see a specialist. so don't wait. call now to request a free decision guide to help you understand medicare. and which aarp medicare supplement plan might work best for you. there's a range to choose from, depending on your needs and your budget. and they all travel with you -- anywhere in the country.

best of all, you'll be joining the millions who have already enrolled in the only medicare supplement insurance plans endorsed by aarp, an organization serving the needs of people 50 and over for generations. ♪ remember, all medicare supplement insurance plans help cover some of what medicare doesn't pay. and could save you in out-of-pocket medical costs. you'll be able to choose any doctor or hospital that accepts medicare patients. and you never need referrals. so call now to request a free decision guide and learn more. after all, when you're going the distance, it's nice to have the experience and commitment to go along with you. keep dreaming. keep doing. go long.

the damage from the hurricane is slowly becoming apparent, and it's likely to be weeks before we have a full accounting of the devastation. yet, less than 12 hours after sandy made landfall, the conspiracy theorists at fox and friends had already reverted back to their normal script touting another jobs report conspiracy and wondering whether the president will use this disaster to delay friday's jobs report. yes, worse than that, they were actually having a laugh about it. take a listen. >> would there be any incentive to not release it?

>> i think you're asking the wrong person. >> thank you for the laugh amongst all this devastation. it just comes top of mind. >> that's what just comes top of mind. not people searching for loved ones, but a totally debunked conspiracy theory. we'd be laughing too if it wasn't so repugnant. joining us a ana marie cox and karen finney. karen can you imagine turning on your television looking for the latest news worried about a loved one or your relatives and hearing people having a good laugh? >> if it was fox news and they were laughing at the president, i suppose i would be disgusted but not surprised. i mean, think about the last jobs report they said there must have been some kind of, you know, fiddling with the numbers, and now they're suggesting -- they're probably going to suggest actually that somehow obama made the storm happen so that he could try to put off the jobs report. >> he is a special one. he is able to manipulate the currents and the tornadoes and

the hurricanes. >> and instead of thinking that, gee, i don't know, people may have been in danger and decided to stay home for a couple days rather than risking coming into their offices while the federal government was closed and sort of being concerned about the people because it is people who actually have to do the work, why not be concerned about them rather than attack the president. >> because it's better to start laughing. >> ana marie we talked earlier about mitt romney in ohio. do you find it somewhat strange that romney is using relief efforts for political cover in a state while at the same time scaring chrysler workers in the very same state with a completely false ad that they're about to lose their jobs? >> well, you know, martin, in times of trouble like this and times of chaos, it's nice to know there are some things you can rely on, right? like fox news to make light of the president in this awful way, mitt romney to be disingenuous and use anything for a political opportunity. so in that sense, i guess like it's nice and comforting --

>> almost reassuring that the world hasn't changed. >> exactly. so nothing has changed, right. mitt romney is still mitt romney or at least the mitt romney that's always kind of changeable. i found that sort of fake relief rally, whatever it is, to be pretty offensive and wrong-headed. the red cross is put in this awkward position of saying we don't need canned goods, thank you very much, mr. 1950s. you know, like we need money, we need people to donate blood. and i think that sort of is mitt romney sort of small as it were, right? like to not only do something so craven but to do it in a way that's not even helpful on a small scale. >> so was it purely a photo opportunity? was it purely for the sake of having people walk past him, hand him cans, and be on television? >> well, it almost has to be seeing as how the thing he was doing was not something that the red cross actually needed. and so it almost has to be purely for politics truly as a

photo-op. >> karen, you wanted to add something to that. >> i wanted to say, martin, the thing is when you have a platform or an opportunity to communicate a message particularly in a time like this, i think it's incumbent on you to communicate what is the most effective, helpful thing. as a former governor i would think he would know that what the red cross needs in times like this is money and blood. of course, it is human nature to want to help your fellow americans that are in trouble and think i'll buy food or clothes. again, as we have been doing here on msnbc and i hope other networks are doing, being a part of directing people to websites where they can donate or find out exactly what's needed. that really should be the role. if they wanted to do something helpful, that would actually be the thing they could have been doing that would be helpful. >> indeed. karen, let me play you something that john mccain said today. he was in ohio supporting the gop senate candidate but said very nasty words about the

president and the 9/11 libya attack. take a listen to this. >> this president is either engaged in a massive cover-up concealing from the american people or is so grossly incompetent that he's not qualified to be the commander in chief of our armed forces. >> karen, like many of us, we respect mr. mccain's service to this nation both politically and militarily, but is it really appropriate on a day like this to start giving a commentary about the president of the united states in those tones? >> and also it's just very disappointing, martin. i think this is the complete political transformation of john mccain that we've seen. i used -- like you, i have had great respect for john mccain and he knows as well as anyone, and condoleezza rice herself went out and made the point in terms of the things that happened in benghazi and that

information was changesiing, th that's what's happening. you have to gather all of the information and try to put together a composite picture of what happened. john mccain knows that, so he knows this kind of vicious attack is not only untrue and unfair but you're right, on a day like today it also just seems completely out of place. >> ana marie cox and karen finney, even with a sore throat, karen, you were marvelous. thank you so much. >> thanks. >> and again if you'd like to make a donation to help with the storm recovery efforts, you can do so at redcross.org or by calling 1-800-red-cross. stay with us. much more ahead.

> as the president visits the red cross today, mitt romney holds what his camp says definitely isn't a campaign e vented, even if the event features a full-length campaign

video, entertainment by supporters, and photo-op material for the campaign. joining us is "washington post" columnist dana milbank. you say in your wonderful piece today, and i'm quoting you, there is something ghoulish about finding political advantage in so much misery. i guess that means mitt romney has joined the chamber of ghouls on halloween eve given his campaign event in ohio. >> the timing couldn't be better. in fact, i congratulated the candidates yesterday for basically behaving in the manner in which americans would expect them to behave at this time, and i guess any time you get out there and praise these guys they embarrass you for doing it. >> but collecting boxes of crackers while a true expression of kindness by the donors is not what professional emergency managers recommend at all. they say financial donations alone are probably the best way to contribute. but there's romney delivering another embarrassing performance of mr. tin ear.

>> of all people the democratic party chairman in ohio said why didn't he just come out and, you know, give them a check for $10 million, $100 million. >> he certainly has the money to be able to do that. >> absolutely. >> or he could ask karl rove to throw some money at it as well. >> they could have done it. they could have taken a quick transfer from the cayman islands which was spared by the storm. >> wouldn't he do us all a favor by attending to the deceitfulness in his jeep ad which says chrysler is shipping jobs to china and suggests that the president is partly to blame? i mean, wouldn't he be spending his time much more usefully if he either corrected that ad or took it down? take a listen to this. >> under president obama gm cut 15,000 american jobs, but they're planning to double the number of cars built in china, which means 15,000 more jobs for china. now comes word that chrysler

plants will start making jeeps in, you guessed it, china. >> dana, i'm completely confused here. romney is now saying the bailout cost gm jobs, but he's also said obama did exactly what romney had prescribed. help me. >> well, let me see if i can here. what happened is romney put together this -- first of all, he started at a campaign rally misquoting what chrysler was, in fact, doing. they're not moving jobs to china. they're increasing some work in china to get around the tariffs over there. they've added 7,000 jobs in north america. the fact checkers went after him for that, so he put out an ad essentially saying the same thing on television. the fact checkers went after him for that and he put out a new ad on the radio making a worse and more false allegation. some time ago the pollsters said we're not going to let the fact checkers dictate our campaign

and nobody can argue with that statement. >> that is an outright lie, isn't it? >> there's no truth. you have chrysler now coming back and responding saying, stop this. this is not what we're doing. >> indeed. >> it just doesn't seem to matter. >> well done, mr. romney. >> dana mill barng, thank ybank. and we'll be right back. jack, you're a little boring. boring. boring. [ jack ] after lauren broke up with me, i went to the citi private pass page and decided to be...not boring. that's how i met marilyn... giada... really good. yes! [ jack ] ...and alicia. ♪ this girl is on fire [ male announcer ] use any citi® card to get the benefits of private pass. more concerts. more events. more experiences. [ jack ] hey, who's boring now? [ male announcer ] get more access with a citi card. [ crowd cheering, mouse clicks ]

[ male announcer ] it's time for medicare open enrollment. are you ready? time to compare plans and see what's new. you don't have to make changes, but it's good to look. maybe you can find better coverage, save money, or both. and check out the preventive benefits you get after the health care law. ♪

medicare open enrollment. now's the time. visit medicare.gov or call 1-800-medicare. ♪ begins with back pain and a choice. take advil, and maybe have to take up to four in a day. or take aleve, which can relieve pain all day with just two pills. good eye. it's time now to "clear the air," and this storm has managed to steal the candidates' thunder as we much ever closer to the presidential election. but, in fact, hurricane sandy has made us all reflect on something that this election really ought to be about, what kind of society do we want to make for ourselves? is america a place where everyone pursues their own agenda and where people only take responsibility for those in their immediate family? where the rich and powerful

continue to exert their influence through generation upon generation and where those less fortunate are likely to remain so? is america a place where public service in the form of nursing, teaching, and caring is regarded as somehow less successful and significant than private equity and money management? these are questions that have troubled some of the deepest thinkers that this country has ever produced. the sociologist robert beller, america's professor of uc-berkeley defined the problem in this way. our capacity to imagine a social fabric that would hold individuals together, he wrote, is vanishing. the sacredness of the individual is not balanced by any sense of the whole or concern for the common good. what's interesting about our headlong pursuit of selfishness is it hasn't made any of us happier. three academics plowed through 53,000 surveys across four

decades. here is their conclusion as published in the prestigious journal cycle science, americans are happier when national wealth is distributed more evenly than when it is distributed unevenly. that's why hurricane sandy isn't a distraction from this election. it's actually at the heart of it. it's about the kind of society that we wish to imagine for ourselves. and here is how the president described it just an hour ago as he visited the red cross. >> during the darkness of the storm, i think we also saw what's brightest in america. nurses at nyu hospital carrying fragile newborns to safety. we've seen incredibly brave firefighters in queens waist-deep in water battling interknoi